ABSTRACT
Women are the most discriminated against, the most vulnerable and least empowered members of many societies, including those with rich mining, oil and gas resource endowments. The rights based approach to development recognizes that there can be no real solution to poverty, without respect for, understanding and promotion of human rights, particularly the rights of traditionally marginalized groups, such as women and girls, ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples. In practice the duty to ensure women's human rights, including workers rights, is often far removed from the reality of implementation, application and enforcement, including in respect of the disadvantages suffered by women and children involved in small and large scale mining. The increasing global power and influence of transnational companies, and their impact on development and poverty means that they, alongside governments, must be responsible for upholding human rights, including the rights of women workers. The work environment within the extractive industry is hostile to women.
